Reflections after CSS DAY 2024

This week, I attended CSS DAY Conference in Amsterdam for the second time. Last year, there were so many new things on the CSS agenda that I went home feeling both inspired and humbled. This year, I wasn't sure what to expect.

There are always new features coming and being implemented in browsers, but what would the focus be this year?

There’s something special about attending a conference where the topic is solely CSS. Not the entire web and everything about it, not JavaScript and every framework, build process and package. It’s just one narrow subject to dive into over 14 talks in two days, and CSS DAY does it so well! The talks cover a variety of perspectives and I always bring something valuable home with me.

Green surroundings near the cabin Jessica on a walk in sunny october days Found acorn on a walk

This year, the subjects ranged from how to architect with modern CSS, to masonry layout, new color functions and deeply deeply, did I say deeplyengineered optimal color calculations. We also revisited the basics of how different CSS layout models work from the ground up and got inspired by crazy 3D CSS animations. Just look the amazing things Julia Miocene does.

So, what takeaways do I bring home this time?

Firstly, that we sometimes have more design tools in CSS than we do in tools like Figma. Two things that come to mind are inspiring animations and fluid typography with functions like clamp(), min(), and max(). This makes it more important than ever to work, designers and developers, together as a team to bring out the best in what we can offer pur users. Another takeaway is that I personally have a way to go in fully understanding all the small tweaks in CSS and how they affect accessibility in the applications I build. It’s a journey I look forward to.

I also look forward to upcoming features we listened to like masonry layout, tab sort order to handle some accessibility challenges, and anchor positioning together with the popover API.

Green surroundings near the cabin Found acorn on a walk

Beyond this, I came home feeling really inspired and with an even longer to-do list of things I want to learn, design, and develop. For me, conferences and activities like this are so important for boosting my energy to keep learning. Inspiration comes fast and can fade just as quickly, but if that initial spark leads me to take the first step in learning something new, the next steps often happen naturally, fueled by the momentum from the first. This creates a positive cycle of continuous learning and growth.

Tag along and I’ll share what I learn along the way!